At the workshop, I stood
proud before the Colosseum
crowd – and literary lion:
story in hand with its
beginning, middle and
end.
A teenager's warble had crept in
but the delivery was quite
good. At least I hoped so.
'You should start in the middle, Ray.'
they said. Later, it did, and if my
Amis true, the arrow's flight is erratic
now.
'You need a dramatic
arc!' roared the lion, I
moved the milieu à Paris de
Aberystwyth.
'Is there an inciting incident?'
came from under hornrims
and over bobbled tweed, lisle and
brogues.
'There's an exciting accident,
would that possibly do?'
I scrawled this semi-precious stone
in the margin.
A black polo neck and goatee
avowed that 'like, we need
multiple POV.' I said 'there's
two
yours and mine.' My eyes were
blurred a little now and I felt sick,
suggestions came from the thick
and the fast.
Conflict? My story now unfolds
in front of the hastily painted
backdrop of the Franco-Prussian
war.
Character, motivation, voice,
advice on every aspect of
my helpless creation 'til
I sat down.
On the desktop now stands
proud in a mahogany
frame a scrap of paper
that was the story's fate,
a rejection from the People's
Friend.
Comments
capoeiragem | April 5, 2009 - 12:22
Thoroughly enjoyable, nice pun on line 12 and the idea of 'creative writing workshop as Colosseum' is certainly one I can relate to...In my own MA workshop we have a rather enthusiastic gentleman who, as likeable as he may be on a one to one basis, has read every creative writing help book going and subsequently spends a large portion of the class hammering on about 'dramatic arc' and the need for characters to go on 'an emotional journey', all with the tutor rolling his eyes in the background. Good poem and an acute satire on the whole CW workshop scene.
chuck | April 5, 2009 - 13:08
Tough crowd. Can't please everyone (cliché).
Footsie | April 5, 2009 - 13:42
If you can write you'll know it's right when it sounds right. If you have no ear for the tune, no amount of chrono-synclastic infundibulism will help you. But that's what you just said, innit?
Ewan | April 5, 2009 - 13:54
But not in so many words.
Arf! Arf!
jennifer | April 5, 2009 - 19:47
A lesson on trying to do everything everyone else wants you to do with your story until it is no longer yours and therefore loses all creative spark... very droll!
I am so glad you guys and my writing group aren't such know-it-all interferer-mongerers!
LOVED:
A black polo neck and goatee
avowed that 'like, we need
multiple POV.' I said 'there's
two
yours and mine.'
J x